Half an Hour to Live
by Rhianon1975
Summary: Serena and Ric fun.


_A bit of mischief_

* * *

Half an Hour to Live

It was almost lunchtime and Serena Campbell just took a quick trip down to the Cafe Pulses for a naughty Latte. She needed a break from Keller, the ward had started to drive her a little mad, overrun with student doctors who acted as if the place was a playground, disrupting the order she had put in place.

After purchasing her drink, Serena considered taking the long route back up to Keller, yes, she considered taking the stairs, anything to delay heading back to the ward she once loved. However, before she could come to any real decision, she spotted Ric Griffin enter the Wyvern reception. He flashed a smile when he saw her, and made his way to her side.

"Didn't expect to see you down here, drinking shoddy coffee" he smirked, noting how Serena often went on about the snazzy coffee machine she brought for her office on Keller.

"Every woman needs to reconnect with the shoddy side every now and again"

"Ah well, you know what they say..."

Serena raised an eyebrow, as if to as 'What do they say', "Shouldn't you stop lingering and get to AAU"

"_Touché_" Ric smiled "You've got me on Keller today"

"I forgot you were dropping in late today and giving your valuable presence to Keller" Serena smiled, she found herself rather excited to work alongside Ric again; an old case of theirs had returned and needed both of their expertise.

"Well I heard the pace needed taking down a notch, living in the fast lane isn't always best" Ric smirked.

"Well I heard, now that you've given up on the sauntering, you _almost_ streamline as much as me, I'd be careful if I were you" Serena winked

Grinning they both entered the lift, behind a pair of Nurses. Silence fell between Ric and Serena whilst the two young Nurses took a small rant about their job; clearly, they had no idea who Serena was. Reaching the second floor the Nurses hurried out, imitating schoolchildren late for class. That behaviour made Serena roll her eyes, it was something she had fallen tiresome of on Keller with Arthur and Dominic's petty squabbles. As the lift doors closed Serena took a sigh of relief, anymore-idle behaviour and she felt she would go mad.

* * *

"Do you think they realised that they were having a good moan about the job in earshot of someone who is technically the boss"

"Oh... No. Poor young naïve souls in this day and age still wouldn't bat an eyelid if a woman had the top dog job..."

"Ric, get your head out of the fifteenth century, no one is _that_ naïve and stupid. Feminism is alive and well you know"

"Still a ridiculous concept"

Serena rolled her eyes, sometimes Ric was too old school for his own good, as the lights to the lift flickered off and the lift stopped moving.

"Oh for Christ's sake" Serena exclaimed, pressing the emergency button in the lift, and no response.

They found themselves plummeted into complete darkness, complete silence. Serena unlocked her iPhone and turned on the torch application to give them some light. It was there she realised she had no signal. "Typical, I knew I should have changed network when my contract expired"

Ric could not help but laugh, something he wished he did not do as Serena shone her phone torch on to him, although he could not see her, he could feel her glaring.

"You could try your own phone and call for help?"

Ric searched his pockets, and then he remembered, "I left it in the car"

"Oh you are _so_ helpful"

"I didn't think we would get stuck in a lift"

"Neither did I"

Ric grunted, as he took a few steps to the back of the lift and started to take off his jacket,

"What are you doing?" Serena asked, still beaming the light towards him.

"About to sit down"

"Yeah, sitting down on a grubby floor, and you suggested I lacked standards" Serena mocked

"Hence, why I shall sit on my jacket, you can join me if aren't feeling too stubborn"

Serena shrugged and sat beside Ric, mirroring his stance of back firm against the wall with knees up. They sat rather close together, hips touching. Ric's jacket did not give much coverage to the lift floor, and in truth, Ric had kindly let Serena sit on most of the jacket. Serena balanced her phone on her knee the light beaming up to the roof of the lift, and set about drinking her Latte.

Ric on the other hand just sat looking at the lift doors, hoping they would open soon. Being in a closed confined space with Serena could only go one of two ways, they would either end up grating on each other and burst into a row, or they would engage in playful banter, subtly of course, this banter could never find itself projected in an alternative light, as much as they both unknowingly toyed with the idea.

"This isn't the break from Keller that I had in mind." Serena piped up after a few moments of silence.

"It's not _that_ bad is it?"

" Yes, _yes_ it is... Sacha really cannot keep those student doctors in line. Times like this we need Mr Malick. I feel like a headmistress of a failing school"

"I'll swap you AAU" Ric smirked turning his head to face her,

"It's not that bad" it actually was that bad, Serena just hated AAU.

Ric smiled, he knew Serena was lying, but said nothing else of the matter, "Back-up generator should have kicked in if this was a power failure"

"I really don't plan to find myself stuck in here all day"

"It could have been worse"

"Stuck in a dark, windowless box, the same air swilling around, no food, nothing to drink bar this Latte, aside from present company, this _is_ hell"

"I'm honoured that I appear as the positive in that statement"

"I wouldn't get to happy about that, I don't think your ego could take it" Serena gave Ric a little nudge, to had to amuse herself somehow

A small crackle came from within the speakers startling Serena and causing her phone to fall from her knees, the screen to the iPhone smashed, but otherwise it still worked. Serena nearly found herself almost about to rant about her phone breaking, but found herself stopped by an unknown voice.

"Hello is anybody in the lift, if yes could you please communicate back" A voice spoke, waiting for a response.

Picking up her phone Serena stood up and used the light to direct her towards the speaker, "Hello... Ms Campbell Deputy CEO, myself, and Ric Griffin seemingly find ourselves stuck in this lift, what is going on?"

" Ah, right. I'm Jeremy Arrowsmith, maintenance manager, the lift you are in should have had a marked sign of out-of-order placed upon it, few technical glitches with the mechanics, and we will try to have both out by the hour... Mr Self is on warpath"

"Oh that is just fantastic" Serena replied with every inch of sarcasm she could find, "I'm sure Mr Self would be delighted to hear that his two GS Consultants find themselves stuck in a faulty lift, with a Theatre list the length of an arm to get through.."

" I can only send my sincere apologies, my sta..." The emergency phone line crackled once more and then a deadly silence fell upon them.

Disappointed with the break in communication to the outside world, really got to Serena, sat herself back beside Ric, irritation had started to kick in, and the warmth of the recycled air left her feeling uncomfortable. Placing her phone this time in front of them, so light beamed up.

"Looks like we're here for the foreseeable future" Ric remarked

"I'm not an idiot, I can _clearly_ see that"

"Just making conversation..."

"I don't need conversation, I need a stiff drink" Serena replied, taking a sip of her Latte which had now gone cold, "Fancy some cold coffee?"

"I'll pass on that one" Ric smiled taking the cup from her and placing it beside him. "Lock in at Albie's after this?"

Serena chuckled; "I'd rather have a shower, it feels like they have piped all the heating into here" she took off her red blouse, leaving her only in her black top. Her shoulders rested on the cold walls of the lift and she felt some relief.

Ric couldn't help but look out of the corner of his eye, marginally disappointed that removing her blouse was as far as she were going to go.

"I fear I may lose my marbles cooped up in here"

"Already happened" Ric teased,

"Cheeky bugger" Serena once again nudged Ric playfully, before resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, if I found myself stuck with those nurses, I think I'd consider cannibalism"

"Spoken like a true sadistic surgeon" Ric chuckled, gently placing his arm around Serena, "Sure you're not going to try it on me?"

"Well you never know, if one of us had to die, it would clearly be you who _had_ to go"

"Why me"

"We don't need ancient fossils working in this place" Serena lifted her head and turned to face Ric, they both met with wide smiles.

"I could get you the sack for being ageist" Ric grinned.

"You _wouldn't_ dare, you'd miss me _too_ much"

"Is that _so_?"

"You know it is"

"Yet, you'd happily resort to eating me in a life or death situation"

"I never used the words happily" They both chuckled, as their eyes met for a lot longer than usual.

The sound of the emergency system crackled and a voice spoke, "Hello, Jeremy speaking, again. How are you both doing?"

"Losing the will to leave" Serena sniped standing up and pacing the lift, this started to get tiresome, she wanted out of this little box of hell.

"Everything is fine" Ric added, he was containing his annoyance towards to situation. "Any update on how long we have to remain in this paradise?"

"Five minutes tops, we're jus..."

The lights flickered back off, the lift creaked, and the sound from the emergency system cut off.

"_Urgh_" Serena groaned in frustration.

"What's up?" Ric asks approaching her, the light from Serena's iPhone his only guide.

Exhaling, Serena replied, "Being stuck in here, it's starting to feel like the end of the world"

Ric chuckled, sometimes Serena thought and said some bizarre things, - and usually that were when she was feeling out of her element. "We will get out of here"

"I know" she rolled her eyes, "What would you do?"

"_Sorry_?"

"If the world was ending and you only had half an hour to live, what would you do?"

Ric had no idea what had prompted Serena to ask such questions, but he took it upon him to answer as truthfully as he could. "I would do this"

Seeing her eyes gleam in the darkness of their surroundings Ric took his hands to her face and brushed his lips against hers. Serena did not flinch, but found herself rather accepting of this action. He placed a firmer kiss on her lips, as he guided one of his hands to the back of her neck and the other to her waist. Serena could not help but find herself kissing him back, each tender, yet firm brush of the lips becoming longer. Their tongues starting to wrap around each other, Serena's hands making their way up Ric's body, a magnetic force keeping them locked together until they felt the need to break for air. Their noses still touching, both taking deep breaths, they opened their eyes, broad smiles upon their faces.

"You've still got twenty-seven minutes left" Serena, whispered as traced her fingers over Ric's shirt buttons, truly taken in by the moment they had just shared.

It was not ideal, it was not romantic at all, it felt almost as if this was their last half hour on planet earth and they were taking their final conquest - together. Neither knew how long they were still going to find themselves stuck in this lift, neither cared. They just felt consumed with this desire they held for each other, a desire that for many months they ignored. A charged electric current surged and Ric kissed the woman before him once more, pressing her body against the wall to the lift. This is where he was going to take her, and she was more than happy to oblige.

Hands caressed a variety of body parts, clothes became tugged, and soon enough various garments fell to the floor, although they did not get fully naked, there was no need. Ric held Serena up against the wall, her legs around him tight, they did not have to engage in lengthy foreplay, and they already felt aroused. Insecurities shot out the window as in this dark Aladdin's cave, a deep and passionate act took place, this was more than just casual sex, feeling were in involved. Unspoken feelings, that would only find themselves expressed if the world was to end.

Ric's slow gentle thrusts constantly changed from shallow to deep stimulation to a circular screwing motion and then back to shallow and deep thrusts. From softly stroking the back of his neck, Serena found her fingers clawing into his shoulders each time Ric entered her the more intensity she felt. Through deep breaths and light moans of ecstasy, their lips found their way back to each other, as their bodies continued to move together in a rhythmic fashion, breaking from kisses and letting sounds of harmonious joy escape from their mouths. Neither wanted this to end, the rush of heat overwhelmed their bodies, droplets of sweat formed, they would do anything to hold on to this for a second longer. However, they were oblivious to time and the longer their fed off each other's passion the weaker their bodies felt. After twelve minutes and trembling at the point of orgasm, they remained positioned together, just holding on, unable to move as they breathed warm air on to each other's skin. Just wanting to stay connected, trailing small soft kisses upon each other.

Soon, they both were fully clothed and in darkness after the battery on Serena's iPhone ran dead. Ric and Serena sat with their arms around each other, still breathless from their moment of passion. The air around them ran warm, re-clothing themselves felt like a massive mistake, the warmth of their bodies clung together left them feeling a little uncomfortable, yet Serena craved more, she wanted to feel him pulsating her insides, she wanted to push him to the floor and ride him, taste him. She wanted them to explore each other's bodies in such way that they would find all the right spots.

"_Ric_" Serena whispered, whilst she fumbled her hand in his.

Kissing her head lightly Ric mumbled in response, closing his eyes as he rested his head upon hers. "Hmmm"

* * *

The doors to the lift opened, and Ric took the first steps out, he was waiting for a response from Serena, and he looked back into the lift, to see her just standing there.

"Serena, are you with us?" He asks catching the lift door before it closed again.

As she stood there, a few things ran through her mind, where was the maintenance team? Why was she not feeling warm? Moreover, why was she holding a piping hot Latte? He phone in her hand had full battery. It did not make sense, she felt sure that she and Ric had just spent over an hour trapped in that lift. The sensations of her sexual escapades with Ric clear in her mind, the image of Ric's half-unclothed body firmly sat in brain. The size, the feel, his touch, his facial expressions as he climaxed, they were all there and so clearly painted in her memory.

"_Serena_" Ric repeated.

Serena barely looked at Ric, and felt herself blush under her layer of make-up. It was all a fantasy, in the seconds from the lift departing second floor to it reaching third, her mind had run riot. She could not recall the moment reality stopped and fantasy started. Meeting Ric's gaze, she instantly looked away, in her fantasy, he had made her feel one too many things, and she had looked into those eyes for far too long.

"Mr Griffin" she finally replied, stepping out of the lift, and waltzed straight to her office, without acknowledging him any further. She could, it lay too dangerous.

Once in her office she headed straight for her desk and sat in her chair distracting herself with paperwork. She needed the thoughts in her mind to stop; she needed Ric to stay out the way. It felt embarrassing to have had such a lucid fantasy. It felt wrong to have wanted the fantasy to have been reality, and in her mind, she almost wanted to test out the theory. That is why she needed him off the ward, immediately. However, he was not going away, he had followed her through to the office. He needed to know what she wanted him to do; he did not want to tread on any toes.

"What's the plan?" He asked, milling in front of her desk.

"For what?" Serena did not look up from her computer screen.

Ric chuckled, and headed round to her side of the desk, "Did someone slip something in your coffee?"

Becoming aware of Ric closing in on her personal space, Serena looked at his legs from the corner of her eye, and before she could do anything about it, she turned herself in the chair, her eyes wandered up his body and her eyes met his. This prompted her to stand up, so she was level with him, standing closely, yet comfortably in each other's personal space.

"Before we talk shop, I gave a question for you; it's _not_ a test..."

Ric raised his eyebrow, "_Right_..."

"Hypothetically speaking, if you and I found ourselves shut in this office together, and there was a big clock out there counting down, and we only had half an hour left on this planet, what would you do...?"

A bizarre request from Serena, Ric thought. He was actually starting to think someone had slipped something into her drink. However, even he had started to become aware of how close he and Serena were standing and he always knew they had a spark. They had always danced a merry dance around what was staring the in the face.

Ric thought for a moment, what would any red-blooded man do if he were to spend his last half hour of life with a woman he found attractive? He had children he should contact in such a situation. Why miss a once in a lifetime chance? Stalling, Ric replied, "Well, I... I would"

"Don't speak, show me" Serena beamed with a growing smile,

Ric raised his eyebrow, surely, that was an invitation, he felt sure of it, and he slipped his hands around her waist, one traced up the silhouette of her body. His touch felt just like she imagined, she could feel him moving in closer and this time it was real, their lips met, softly rubbing against each other, Ric then pulled away for a second before he sucked on her bottom lip, he pulled away for a second time. He had Serena's heart racing and she could not resist the teasing temptation, putting her hands to his neck and placed a firm kiss to his lips, adding sensuous aggression inviting his tongue into her mouth.

Feeling the urge to pull Ric down with her on to the desk, Serena knew if she allowed his hands to explore her body any longer, she would end them both in deep trouble. As tempting as it was, as much as they continued kissing, it left them hungry for me more. Serena pulled away, and smiled, holding an intense gaze "Just as I thought"

Ric grinned and raised an eyebrow, he felt rather pleased with himself. He was pleased with the result. He knew Serena had an inner vixen, and although he meant that in the derogatory sense, there was no deny that, it would not stand true. He always pondered what it would feel like to cross the line. "We could always expand on scenarios _later_?"

A thrill rushed inside Serena's body, saying she felt a little turned on would be an understatement, especially after where her mind wondered to earlier. The possibilities of what she and Ric could get up to excited her. She had no idea what had caused her to think and behave in such way. All she knew is that she held this strong desire for Ric, and she could see it was a desire he reciprocated for her. "I'll take you up on that offer, on one condition"

"Name it"

"You need to get back on AAU, I don't think I could cope having you around" Serena stated playing with her necklace in a bid to distract herself. They had already wasted enough time as it was avoiding work.

Ric grinned, and he lingered a kiss to her lips "Guess I can't argue with the boss" pulling away from Serena took some might, but he did and made his way to the door, but before leaving he left Serena with one final thought, "For the record, we might need more than half an hour"

Serena's mouth dropped, she knew of Ric's reputation with woman, but she never expected him to be so forthcoming with words. Additionally, for him to leave her with such thoughts in her mind, she almost felt half tempted to drag him back in here and live out her earlier fantasy. However, as far as thoughts go, they needed turning off as the sound of Serena's pager went. This was no time to think of extra-curriculative activities. Serena just had to wait to see of Ric Griffin fully lived up to her expectations, and if the kissing excelled that, she could only hope whatever sexual gratification she obtained in her fantasy would stand doubled.


End file.
